Empty tankers near Mumbai being transported to collect liquid medical oxygen from other states [Rafiq Maqbool/AP]

New Delhi, April 21 (RHC)-- Disruption in the supply of medical oxygen has killed at least 22 patients in a hospital in western India’s Maharashtra state, an official said.  Nashik district’s collector on Wednesday said an oxygen tanker leaked outside a hospital in the city, halting its supply for about half an hour.

“The oxygen tank had a leak while refilling, and that caused deaths of 22 patients,” Suraj Mandhare, an official in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, told Reuters news agency.  Media reports said all the victims were on ventilators and in need of constant oxygen supply in the hospital dedicated for COVID-19 patients.

Mandhar told The Associated Press the oxygen supply has since been resumed to nearly 150 other patients in the hospital.  Fire officer Sanjay Bairagi said the leakage was plugged by the fire service within 15 minutes, but there was supply disruption in the Zakir Hussain Hospital.

Television images showed white fumes spreading in the hospital area, causing panic.  Maharashtra is India’s worst-hit state by the latest surge in coronavirus cases in the country.